A President to remind us of our multiracial composition

In a world of rising populism with racism rearing its ugly head, more than ever before, we need to remind ourselves that we are a multiracial society where every community, every race, language and culture has its equal place.

And this multiracial identity is our national identity.

The PRESIDENT, as the HEAD OF STATE, must be a reminder to all Singaporeans of our multiracial composition. As th...e Head of State, the President is a symbolic expression of this multiracial national identity.

That is why it is important that there is a rotation of presidency among the different races to reflect our multiracial community.

This brings us to the importance of the reserved presidential election - to ensure that such a rotation takes place.

Most people think of a reserved election as being reserved only for minority races.

In principle, the reserved election applies to ALL the races. Yes, including Chinese.

But because the Chinese form the majority, the possibility of not seeing a Chinese elected as president is very low and therefore it is unlikely that there will be a need for a reserved election for a Chinese candidate to be elected as president.

Some people have commented that candidates in reserved election are less qualified. This is WRONG.
ARE THE CANDIDATES FOR A RESERVED PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION LESS QUALIFIED?

OF COURSE NOT.

Every person who wants to stand for election as president, regardless of whether it is a reserved election or not, has to MEET THE SAME QUALIFYING CRITERIA

.

So every person who is qualified to stand for election as president, including in a reserved election, is EQUALLY QUALIFIED.

In an interview with the Straits Times in 1999 on the election of S R Nathan as president, Mr Lee Kuan Yew said:

"We've had two terms of Wee Kim Wee, one term of Ong Teng Cheong. I think it's time to remind Singaporeans that we are a multiracial community. And it's also good. It's a symbolic expression of our national identity."